Padmaavat's creative right

People holding a banner during a protest demanding ban over the screening of film Padmaavat directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, in Meerut on Thursday. PTI Photo

TT, 18 January 2018, New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the nationwide release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Padmaavat, staying the bans imposed by four BJP-ruled states and observing that "creative content" is a constitutional right.

The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud said that all the states and Union territories must ensure peaceful screenings of the film, scheduled for a January 25 release, and provide protection to its crew.

PTI reported that shortly after the verdict, sword-wielding activists of Rajput group Karni Sena had attacked a cinema in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, and torn down the movie's posters.

"Creative content is an inseparable aspect of Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the Constitution.... Exhibition of film is an expression of creative content," Justice Misra told additional solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre.

Senior advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the filmmakers, had argued the states lacked the power to ban the film once the Central Board of Film Certification had cleared it (with cuts and a name change from Padmavati).

But Mehta said the states alone could decide on the law-and-order situation and sought time till Friday for Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan to file their responses. The court did not agree.

"Once the parliamentary legislation confers the responsibility and power on the statutory board and that board grants certification, non-exhibition of it by states will be contrary to statutory provisions," Justice Misra said.

Mehta argued there was "distortion of history" by the filmmakers: "We can't let someone show Mahatma Gandhi sipping whisky."

Salve countered that a movie, Jesus Christ Superstar, had been made in the West but there were no protests there. "Let's have Indian standards," Mehta quipped.

Some Rajput groups claim the movie insults the community by falsely showing a romantic dream sequence between 13th-century Mewar queen Padmavati and Delhi sultan Alauddin Khilji. The filmmakers have denied any such sequence, while many historians believe Padmavati never existed.

The petitioners say the movie is inspired by the epic Padmavat, written by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540. The four BJP governments had cited "popular sentiments" and "safety and security" to ban the movie.